Bangladesh: Dhaka Becomes Capital of Islamic Culture

The Bangladesh capital Dhaka has been declared as the capital of Islamic culture along with two other cities. The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), a subsidiary of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), has recently declared this. Since 2004, ISESCO has been observing this annual programme to uphold Islamic policies, history, civilization and cultural heritage in its member countries. In 2012, Dhaka has become the capital for the Asian region.

After the arrival of Islam in the Indian sub-continent, the local architecture was influenced by Islamic building designs. The numerous mosques (Masjids) built in Dhaka represent that. Some of these places of worships were erected during the Sultan era, some during the Mughal era and some during the British era. There are also many modern architecture and most of them are influenced by Islamic arts and designs.

Since the Sultan era Masjids are being built in Dhaka. It started with the completion of the Binot Bibi’s mosque in 1457 AD. It is called the first worship house for the Muslims in Dhaka. Blogger Juthochari [bn] informed that the establishment collapsed in 2006. The main thrust of erection of mosques happened during the Mughal era. Dhaka was named the capital of Subeh Bengal. Beautiful mosques bearing Islamic designs were built one by one. That time was also crucial for Dhaka to emerge as a capital city.